Method of producing a cake batter



United States Patent Ofiice 3,069,270 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 12, 1961.Divided and this application July 13, 1961,

Ser. No. 123,660

5 Claims. (Cl. 99-92) The present invention relates to liquidshortenings which are suitable for use in the preparation of batters anddoughs. The liquid shortening of the present invention comprises saladoil having uniformly dispersed therein controlled amounts of selectedmonoglycerides of higher saturated fatty acids having more than 18carbon atoms. This is a division of application Serial No. 834,629,filed August 19, 1959, now Patent No. 2,999,755.

It has been recognized that certain advantages reside in the use ofliquid shortenings over the plastic shortenings, in ease of handling aswell as ease of measurement and usage of shortening. Substantial savingsare inherent in the use of liquid shortenings as compared to theconventional plasticized solid shortenings both as a consequence of lesswaste material and the shorter time required to prepare batters with theformer.

The use of fluid shortening in a wide variety of fat, rich, sweet bakedgoods may also have important dietary advantages, Research in theatheroscleroxix prevention field has recently developed evidence tosupport the belief that unsaturated vegetable oils are less apt tocontribute to atherosclerotic conditions than are the hydrogenatedvegetable fats or animal fats used in plastic shortenings. Replacing theapparently less desirable hard fats with the safer unsaturated naturalvegetable oils in a wide variety of baked goods may thus constitute asignificant contribution toward reducing the incidence of heart disease.

In spite of the well recognized advantages associated with the use ofliquid shortenings and in the light of the prior art the commercialemployment of such products has so far been negligible. This is due tothe fact that the correct combination of functional properties needed torender liquid shortenings suitable for general cake baking use have notpreviously been developed. The correct combination of properties in thiscase refers to a liquid shortening product in which is incorporated forreasons of economy, among others, the minimum level of additiveshomogeneously dispersed to allow easy handling in commercial channels,and which possesses the required cake batter aerating properties toenable bakers and housewives to use the product in the full range ofcake batters wherein the specific batter aerating properties of theshortening included in the recipes constitute a controlling factor inthe qaulity of the baked cake.

We have made the important discovery that saturated fatty acidmonoglycerides are not alike in their cake batter aerating properties asWas heretofore believed, and that by selecting the proper saturatedfatty acid monoglycerides optimum cake baking results can be obtained inthe conventional recipes with economically small amounts of thepreferred monoglycerides. We have also discovered a novel processwhereby a stable homogeneous suspension of the relatively minor amountsof the preferred mono glycerides required can be produced in a normallyliquid triglyceride edible oil such as salad oil very simply and at asignificant reduction in manufacturing cost over the processes mentionedin the prior art.

In addition, our discoveries include a method of activating thepreferred saturated fatty acid monoglycerides homogeneously suspended ina liquid shortening medium which consistently assures optimum cakebaking results. Finally, we'have found that the inclusion of a minorter.

amount of edible grade lecithin along with the preferred monoglyceridesin the liquid shortening serves to extend the range of usefulness of theliquid shortening to the manufacture of high sugar white cakes whichhave become quite popular in recent years. The commercial manufactureand employment of liquid shortenings can now be realized in practice bymaking use of the foregoing discoveries. These discoveries will hereinbe described in greater detail and illustrated by suitable examples.

Experience has conclusively demonstrated that it is absolutely essentialthat an additive having emulsifying and batter aeration properties beadded to a salad oil before it can be made to perform satisfactorily inmost cake batters regularly employed in household as well as incommercial baking.

Liquid shortenings containing certain sorbitan esters have been preparedwhich have good cake batter aeration properties but the use of thesesorbitan esters to the extent that their incorporation in liquidshortenings would require has not been approved by virtue of an elementof doubt residing in their safety as food additives. Furthermoresuspensions of these emulsifiers in salad oil tend to settle rapidlyrendering the product difficult to handle. Among the availableemulsifiers only the monoglycerides and a few related compounds havebeen cleared for food use by the Food and Drug Administration.

Fatty acid monoglycerides and diglycerides in which the fatty acidsinvolved are largely unsaturated dissolve quite readily in a salad oilmedium, but liquid shortenings made with this type of emulsifier willnot yield satisfactory cakes of which pound cakes can be used as arepresentative example. However, certain saturated fatty acid partialglyceryl ester emulsifiers can be used in liquid shortenings. Thesesaturated fatty acid partial esters of glycerine are not soluble in ormiscible with the salad oil medium at ambient temperatures and musttherefore be suspended in the salad oil substrate in solid form.

While we do not wish to limit the present invention to any particulartheory it'appears that the monoglycerides used in liquid shorteningshave more than one function to perform in the preparation of cakebatters which will yield satisfactory baked cakes. In the early stagesof batter preparation it is essential that the additives act asemulsifiers, probably because emulsions absorb air much more readilythan solutions or suspensions. For example, witness the whippingqualities of cream which is an emulsion of fat and water as comparedwith weak foaming properties of skim milk which includes substantiallyno emulsified fat. Secondly, it is apparently necessary that asignificant number of finely dispersed air cells enclosed in solid fatbe created during the preparation of the bat- Our experience indicatesthat the sequential steps of emulsification, foaming (air incorporation)and the production of a sufiicient number of solid fat enclosed airyellow cakes, etc.

When a saturated fatty acid monoglyceride of the prior art for exampleis dispersed in salad oil at ambient temperature it has by virtue of itsvery low solubility little or no emulsifying properties; when liquidshortenings containing such additives are used as such in mostconventional cake batters the latter will fail to incorporate air,probably because the first of the above mentioned sequential functionalrequirements was not mete.g. namely an emulsion susceptibleto foaming,whipping or air incorporation was not formed.

When on the other hand a soluble emulsifieris used in the liquidshortening the emulsification and foaming steps take place but in thiscase there are no solid fat particles and again cake failures result.Similarly combinations of soluble emulsifiers based on unsaturated fattyacids and stable suspensions of inert saturated fatty acid triglyceridesalso fail because the small stable solid triglyceride fat crystalsresist the incorporation of the fine air cells and cake failures result.We have discovered that if converted to the alpha crystalline formbefore addition to a cake batter, monoglycerides of saturated fattyacids have both the emulsifying and the air cell entrapping qualitiesrequired to render them effective in liquid shortening media. We havealso found that when employed in the alpha crystalline form themonoglycerides of fatty acids having a chain length greater thaneighteen carbon atoms are considerably more effective as liquidshortening additives than the corresponding monoglycerides of fattyacids having a chain length of eighteen carbon atoms or less. These twoimportant discoveries are closely related. Until we discovered how toproperly activate the saturated fatty acid monoglycerides the artrecognized no functional difference among the available saturated fattyacid monoglycerides ranging from sixteen to twentytwo carbon atoms.These important discoveries now render it feasible to offer to thebaking industry as well as to domestic consumers a stable liquidshortening which has the required cake batter aerating properties to fitall their baking needs at an economically attractive price. Tremble andFink U.S. 2,532,523 describes a method for the preparation of certaincake batters using salad oil and glyceryl monostearate or gly ceryldistearate at relatively high concentrations. In this case the saladoil-glyceryl partial ester mixture was heated to melt and dissolve thenormally solid glyceryl partial ester in the salad oil and it wasspecified that the resulting solution be added to the remaining batteringredients before any solids were allowed to separate from solution.Cake failures were reported to result if the normally solid glycerylpartial esters were permitted to crystallize or otherwise separate fromsolution before the liquid shortening mixture was added to the rest ofthe cake batter ingredients. On the contrary we have discovered that theliquid shortenings of this invention work best in cake batters when thepreferred normally solid partial glyceryl esters are present in thesolid crystalline state as the liquid shortening is incorporated intothe batter. Excellent pound cakes have been made when liquid shorteningof this invention have been allowed to stand up to 70 minutes after thepreferred normally solid glyceryl partial esters of this invention hadbeen crystallized from solution in the salad oil substrate. It issignificant from the examples herein described that our excellent cakebaking resulm were achieved with considerably lower concentrations ofthe normally solid glyceryl partial esters than those required byTremble and Fink.

, A liquid shortening product is described by Andre and Going U.S.2,815,286 and wherein a mixture of fully saturated triglycerides andfully saturated mono and diglycerides i.e., solid glycerides, issuspended at room temperature in a liquid triglyceride oil base in sucha fashion as to guarantee that the major part (at least 80%) of thesolid glycerides present in the fluid shortening exists in the stablebeta crystalline polymorphic form.-

The principal virtues claimed for this product are associated withresistance to gelling or loss of fluidity and to settling or in otherwords, suspension stability. The claimed benefits are obtained byexpediting the crystal phase transformation of the suspended solidglycerides to the stable beta form by a special tempering process.

The polymorphic behavior of saturated fatty acid glycerides has beenadequately described by Andre and Going in US. 2,815,286 and in A. E.Baileys Melting and solidification of Fats. Briefly, it has beenestablished that normally solid saturated fatty acid glycerides and inparticular saturated fatty acid monoglycerides are very sparinglysoluble in normal liquid triglyceride media at ambient temperatures butat temperatures above the melting points of the normally solidglycerides they become completely miscible with or dissolve in theliquid triglycerides. It has also been demonstrated that saturated fattyacid glycerides tend to exist in more than one crystalline form. Thesecrystalline forms have been called alpha, beta prime, and beta. When themolten saturated fatty acid glycerides are allowed to cool, crystalsfirst began to appear when the temperature drops below the melting pointof the alpha crystalline form and the crystals formed exhibit the alphastructure as determined by X-ray diffraction pattern and by meltingpoint. These alpha crystals are relatively unstable and consequentlytransform into the beta prime form more or less rapidly depending on thechain length of the saturated fatty acid involved. Some solid glyceridesare capable of existing for relatively long periods in the beta primeform but generally it is believed that nearly all saturated fatty acidglycerides will ultimately transform to the beta crystalline form whichhas been shown to be the most stable configuration.

It is well known in the art that certain kinds of fat crystals notablythe beta prime form have the capacity to intertwine or interlock whensuspended in a liquid substrate, in such a fashion as to provide adegree of rigidity to the entire mass if the solids are present insuflicient amounts. Suflicient structure to interfere with the freeflowing properties of a mixture can occur at solid fat levels down to5%. The solid appearance of plastic fats such as shortening, margarine,lard etc., is based upon this particular structure building capacity ofsaturated fatty acid glycerides existing largely in the beta prime form.Most plastic fat mixtures used in shortenings and margarines etc.,include only about 1525% of glycerides which are actually solid at roomtemperature, the remainder being present in liquid form held together ina relatively rigid nonflowing state by the structure built up largely bythe beta prime form saturated fatty acids glyceride crystals dispersedin the liquid substrate.

Mitchell U.S. 2,521,242 showed that beta phase crystals of saturatedfatty acid glycerides lacked the structures building characteristics ofthe corresponding beta prime crystals so that slurries containing up to60% of beta crystals remained fluid. Holman and Sanders U.S. 2,815,286derived a method for quickly converting beta prime fat crystals to betacrystals in liquid oil media and Andre and Going, U.S. 2,815,285 appliedthe same process to liquid shortenings containing about 5% of mixedsaturated fatty acid glycerides.

We have not found it necessary to employ such methods to hasten thecrystal phase transformation of the solid monoglycerides in the liquidshortenings of this invention because the product retains its freeflowing characteristic regardless of whether the monoglycerides are inbeta prime or the beta form because the concentration of solids (about1.5%) is in any event insuflicient to interfere with fluidity.

Liquid and plastic shortenings are basically similar products in thesense that each comprises a mixture of normally solid and normallyliquid glycerides. In each case the liquid glycerides predominate andact as the substrate for the solid glycerides which are finely dispersedtherein.

The prior art recognized this similarity between plastic and liquidshortenings in using the very same process and equipment to make bothproducts.

Andre and Going in U.S. 2,815,285 and Brock 2,868,- 652prepare liquidshortenings by chilling relatively warm solutions of solid glycerides innormally liquid glycerides to produce small fat crystals using a Votatoras the beat exchanger in the manner in which it has been used for manyyears to manufacture plastic shortening.

We have discovered a unique process which incorporates significanteconomies especially in the use of heat and refrigeration, and requiresno heat exchanger such as a Votator. In our process heat is applied toonly about 10% of the liquid shortening product, i.e., a minor amountthereof. The remainder of the lot when mixed with the heated part servesto cool the heated part sufficiently to cause the norm-ally solidglycerides to crystallize. Although the crude slurry thus produced doesnot have adequate suspension stability, we have found that if thisslurry is passed through a colloid mill within a short controlled periodof time after the slurry is formed a finely dispersed stable suspensionresults. Indications are that in the alpha crystalline form the solidglycerides in the liquid shortenings of this invention are particularlyamenable to dispersion by the colloid mill. If the crude suspensions areallowed to stand too long before being milled the slurry fails torespond to milling and unstable, quick settling suspensions result. Themaximum allowable time interval between the formation of the crudeslurry and milling will probably vary with the composition of the solidglycerides, but for the products of this invention it was found to beabout 30 minutes.

In the practice of this invention we have found that the desired cakebatter aerating properties in a fluid shortening are most efficientlyand economically provided by the monoglyceride esters of saturated fattyacids having a chain length greater than eighteen carbon atoms. Ourexperience indicates no particular virtue in the simultaneous presenceof saturated fatty acid diglycerides or triglycerides in fluidshortening. Although the diglycerides are known to have some emulsifyingproperties in cake batters, they are very weak indeed as compared withthe corresponding monoglycerides and since on an equivalent performancebasis the commercially available distilled monoglyceride concentratesare more economical, we see no particular value in including significantlevels of diglycerides in the product of this invention. Furthermore,our data shows that diglycerides of saturated fatty acids tend tointerfere with the monoglycerides in a liquid shortening product.Commercial scale cake baking tests also tended to be more erratic whenexcessive levels of diglycerides were present in the liquid shortenings.It should be noted, however, that small amounts of diglycerides can betolerated when used with the low level of long chainmonoglycerides ofthe present invention.

Largely for economic reasons, but to some extent due to erratic bakingperformance we have found it was best to avoid the inclusion ofexcessible concentration of diglycerides along with the preferredmonoglycerides in the liquid shortenings of this invention. Theemployment of the readily available commercial distilled monoglyceridesat 80% or higher purity serves to automatically restrict thediglycerides to not more than about 20% of the monoglyceride content ofthe emulsifier concentrate used.

Furthermore the excellent pound cake volumes obtained with our liquidshortening products containing so little as about 1.25% to 1.75% ofsuspended solid fat demonstrates conclusively that in the practice ofour invention there is also no need to build up the solids content ofthe liquid shortening by adding inert saturated triglyceride material tothe formulation.-

While some liquid shortenings of the prior art will under certainconditions make an acceptable yellow layer oakeusing a non-criticalhousehold recipe, they will fail completely in pound cakes andpractically all other similar type commercial or household cakes whereinthe shortening plays an important role in batter aeration.

When the fluid shortenings of this invention are used as prescribed inthe invention, excellent pound cakes, high sugar white cakes, devilsfood cakes, as well as high sugar yellow cakes, result which are equalin volume and quality to those obtained with commercial plasticsuperglycerinated shortenings. Equivalent results are likewise obtainedwith comparable household recipes.

The overall baking performance of our preferred liquid shortenings aresignificantly enhanced by the inclusion of an appropriate amount oflecithin in the formulation.

' 6 While satisfactory cakes of some kinds like pound cakes for example,can be made with liquid shortening containing no added lecithin, thepresence of lecithin greatly enhances the performance of our liquidshortening when it is used in high sugar white cakes. As the ratio ofsugar to flour is increased from 1.00 to 1.40, white layer cakes madewith fluid shortenings of the preferred formulation, but withoutlecithin exhibit a gradual deterioration of the crust color, followed bysunken center-s and diminished cake volume.

The addition of from about 0.5% to about 1.25% of lecithin derived fromvegetable oil substantially eliminates the observed sensitivity to sugarlevel increases and renders it feasible to make excellent white cakeswith the very highest practical sugar to flour ratios.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid shorteningwhich contains the most effective kind of saturated fatty acidmonoglycerides so far as cake batter aerating properties are concerned.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel, economicalprocess for dispersing the small quantity of normally solid saturatedfatty acid monoglycerides in a salad oil base so as to form a stablesuspension which resists settling for a long period of time.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a method for activatingthe preferred monoglycerides in the liquid shortening before use in cakebatters in order to insure optimum performance.

It is also an object of the present invention to pro vide an additivewhich extends the useful range of liquid shortening to include highsugar to flour white cakes.

In broad aspect, the liquid shortening of the present invention isprepared from salad oil in which there is incorporated a minor amount ofa monoglyceride of a saturated fatty acid having more than 18 carbonatoms. As is known, the salad oil suitable for the preparation of fluidshortening of the present invention may be any of those edible-gradeoils which remain fluid at room temperature, and these include soybeanoil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, corn oil, safflower oil, as well asolive oil, sesame oil and others, as well as the liquid iglyceridefractions obtained from animal fats. A salad oil, therefore, isconstituted of triglycerides of higher fatty acids normally liquid above60 F. and having a iodine value in the range of about to 155. i

There is incorporated, in accordance with the present invention, in thesalad oil, a very minor amount of solid monoglyceride of those saturatedfatty acids having more than 18 carbon atoms, of which the outstandingexamples are glyceryl monobehenate and glyceryl monoarachidate, eachrelatively insoluble in salad oil at room temperature. The monoglycerideof the saturated fatty acid of more than 18 carbon atoms may beincorporated in the salad oil in any convenient manner, which willproduce a relatively uniform distribution of the monoglyceride throughthe triglyceride oil.

It is important, to produce a final mixture in which the oil-insolublesolid monoglyceride is uniformly distributed throughout the triglycerideoil vehicle and remains so uniformly distributed for considerableperiods of time to permit shipment, storage, and withdrawal and use of aportion of the composition having uniformand dependable characteristicsin use. As in the prior art, this may be done by heating to dissolve thesolid monoglyceride with subsequent chilling to obtain a fine, crystaldispersion, followed if desired by a tempering step to ex pedite theconversion of the suspended monoglyceride crystals to the stable betaform or .by the novel equally effective and more economical processdescribed in this invention.

- The cake baking qualities of the liquid shortenings of the presentinvention were evaluated primarily with the pound cake test becauseamong the various cake recipes which depend upon the Ibatter aeratingproperties of shortening the pound cake test is most critical.

Results obtained in the pound cake test will generally reflectshortening performance in most other cake recipes. The pound cake testowes its critical aspects to the absence of chemical leavening agentssuch as baking powder which is used in most other cakes. Cake volume inparticular and to a considerable extent texture and grain of pound cakesis thus very closely correlated with the batter aerating properties ofthe shortening used. The following pound cake recipe was used toevaluate the liquid shortenings of this invention.

Pound cake recipe:

Cake flour grams 326 Sugar (granulated) do 400 Milk powder do 18 Salt do11 /2 Fluid shortening do 253 Whole eggs do 350 Water do 170 Vanillatsps 2 Blending metI10ds.--The dry ingredients are combined in a 5 quartHobart mixing bowl and mixed for a few minutes at low speed using a wirewhip. The fluid shortening warmed to 140 F. in order to dissolve theemulsifiers, is first premixed with cold tap water, in order toreprecipitate the emulsifier in the active form. This mixture is thenadded to the dry ingredients in the bowl, and when the danger ofspattering has passed, shift to medium speed. After about 1 to 2minutes, start adding the eggs gradually while mixing for about 4minutes. Shift to low speed and mix for 4 additional minutes.

The specific gravity of the finished batter Was determined using a steelcup of known capacity. The batter was weighed into rectangular loaf-cakepans at 300 grams per pan. The cakes were baked in a laboratory sizeDespatch Oven at 325 F. On the following day, the volume of the cakeswas determined by the conventional seed displacement method and theappearance, texture, and eating quality was appraised. Cake volumesranging from 850 to 900 cc. constituted excellent performance. In thisvolume range the grain was usually quite fine, as a pound cake shouldbe, the crust appearance was satisfactory and the texture and eatingquality was good. The cake grain tended to open up excessively when thevolume exceeded 900 cc. significantly. When the cake volume failed toreach 850, the evidence of unsatisfactory batter aeration was usuallyreadily apparent. The specific gravity of the batter was generally highand many imperfections developed in the crust caused by the escape ofloosely bound large air bubbles. In borderline cases, the crustimperfections constituted most important criterias of shorteningweakness. Unsatisfactory pound cakes resulted when the batter specificgravity exceeded 0.65 significantly.

Although the pound cake test constitutes a good general method forevaluating the cake baking qualities of a shortening, it alone is notadequate to predict the performance of shortening in high sugar whitecakes. In addition to the usual batter aerating properties it isessential that the shortening used in high sugar white cakes have thecapacity to emulsify the relatively larger volumes of water whichinvariably accompany the higher sugar levels. Because such high sugarwhite cakes are quite extensively produced, it is essential that to beacceptable commercially a liquid shortening must have the capacity toyield satisfactory white cakes.

The following 140% sugar white cake recipe was used to evaluate theliquid shortening of this invention:

Cake flour grams 3 60 Granulated sugar do 504 Skim milk powder do 36Powdered egg white do 36 Baking powder do 22 /2 Salt do 8 Liquidshortening grams 174 Water do 576 Vanilla tsps 2 Blending method.Combinethe dry ingredients in a 5 quart Hobart mixing bowl and mix for about 2minutes using a wire whip. Warm the liquid shortening to a temperatureof about F. or until the mixture clears and then roughly premix theresulting solution with an equal amount of cold tap water in order toreprecipitate the saturated fatty acid monoglycerides in the activecrystalline form before adding this portion of the fluids to the drybatter ingredients in the mixing bowl. Shift to medium speed andcontinue mixing for about 10 to 12 minutes while gradually adding theremainder of the water. Although the specific gravity of the batter isnot critical in this case as it is in pound cakes, we found that whitecake batters will usually run from about .625 to .670 in specificgravity. When 8 inch layers are scaled at 340 grams (12 oz.) and bakedfor 20-25 minutes at about 350 F., we obtain excellent appearing whitecakes which run from 1000 to 1050 cc. in volume. These cakes areequivalent in every respect to white cakes made with plastic shortening.

The following examples will serve to illustrate the preferred liquidshortening formulas, the mode of making the liquid shortening, and themethod of activating the emulsifiers included in the liquid shorteningof the present invention.

EXAMPLE I Fifteen parts by weight of glyceryl monobehenate and 15 partsby weight of glyceryl monostearate were dissolved in parts, 105 parts,and 60 parts respectively of soybean salad oil by heating each mixtureto about -180 F. The respective solutions were then added, under mildagitation during about 2 minutes to 1620, 1665 and 1710 grams of soybeansalad oil at 70 F. and containing 18 parts of lecithin to make a totalof 1800 parts of liquid shortening slurry. In each case a portion ofeach slurry was retained and other portions were passed through acolloid mill promptly, and after folding intervals of 15 and 60 minutes.The above experiment was replicated two more times using base oiltemperatures of 40 F. and 100 F. instead of 70 F. to simulate extremeambient temperature conditions which might be encountered in practicethroughout the year. The suspended solids in the unmilled controls werealmost completely settled out after standing over night. All of themilled samples exhiibted a marked improvement in suspension stability.These runs demonstrated that optimum resistance to settling was obtainedwhen the hot monoglyceride solution in salad oil comprised 7.5% and 10%of the weight of the finished liquid shortening, and when the crudeslurries were milled in less than one hour of elapsed time afterpreparation of the crude slurry. Additional runs along the same linesdemonstrated that milling should be accomplished within about 30 minutesafter preparation of the crude slurry. These results proved that byproper control of the variables involved, within the limits describedabove, our new process is effective in preparing liquid shortening inthe form of suspensions containing fine uniform dispersions of solidsaturated fatty acid rnonoglycerides which resist settling for severflmonths. Excellent pound cakes and white cakes were prepared with theliquid shortenings of this example using recipes and blending methods aspreviously described.

EXAMPLE II The following example illustrates the importance of the socalled emulsifier activation process. Pound cake batters were preparedwith liquid shortening of the composition described in Example I. In thefirst test the liquid shortening was used as such while in the other theliquid shortening was heated to melt the suspended emulsifier and thenthe melted liquid shortening was premixed with cold tap Water beforeaddition to the dry batter ingredients in order to reprecipitate theemulsifier as a suspended solid in the active form. When the unactivatedliquid shortening was used in a pound cake batter, the batter failed toincorporate air, exhibiting a specific gravity of about 1.07. Thisbatter yielded dense pound cakes having a volume of about 500 cc. per300 grams of batter. When the same liquid shorteru'ng was properlyactivated the batter whipped up readily to a specific gravity of .63 andfine pound ca'kes which exhibited a volume of 900 cc. per 300 grams ofbatter were obtained.

EXAMPLE III TABLE I Efiect of Fatty Acid Chain Length on MonoglyeerideActivity in Pound Cakes Specific Cake 1.41% distilled mono in salad oilgravity of volume,

batter cc.

Glyecryl monopalmitate (Cis) 1.07 400 Glyceryl monostearate (Cm).-. 1.07400 Glyeeryl monoarachidate (O20) 0.635 860 Glyeeryl monobehenate (C20.582 920 Yellow layer cake recipe:

Cake flour grams 360 Sugar do 432 Milk powder do Salt do 10.8 Fluidshortening do 144 Whole eggs do 180 Water do 416 Vanilla tsps 2 Eachliquid shortening portion was heated to melt the normally solidmonoglycerides and then cooled in a Water bath to reprecipitate thesolid monoglycerides in the desired active form. The resulting activeliquid shortening suspension was subsequently incorporated into thebatter after various intervals of elapsed time up to thirty minutes. Wechose to refer to the test run immediately after precipitation had beeneifected as zero time. In each case one test called instantaneous timewas also run wherein the warm melted liquid shortening and some cold tapwater were added simultaneously to the dry batter ingredients.

The batter specific gravity values and the cake volumes obtained fromthese tests are included in the following table:

TABLE II Activation Retention Time of Various Saturated Fatty AcidMonoglycerides When Used in Liquid Shortening Based on Performance inYellow Layer Cakes Instantaneous Zero time 15 min. 30 min.

Sp. gr. Cake Sp. gr. Cake Sp. gr. Cake Sp. gr. I Cake of vol, of voL, ofvol., of vol.

batter cc. batter cc. batter cc. batter co.

Glyceryl monopalmitate 1. 160 300 Glyceryl monostearate-.. 0. 658 1,100715 l, 100 1.120 400 Glyeeryl monoarachidate 0. 670 1, 100 .668 1, 130681 1,050 .681 1, 050 Glyceryl monobehenate 0. 650 1, 100 654 1, 130 6811, 100 738 1, 100

EXAMPLE IV The superior cake batter aerating properties of themonoglycerides derived from saturated fatty acids having a chain lengthgreater than 18 carbon atoms are also exemplified by the resultsobtained in a so called activation retention study. Liquid shorteningswere prepared as described in Example I using respectively glycerylmonopalmitate, glyceryl monostearate, glyceryl monoarachidate, andglyceryl monobehenate at the 1.41%

It is apparent from these data that glyceryl monobehenate and glycerylmonoarachidate remain active considerably longer than either of theother two distilled, monoglycerides. While the glyceryl monostearate wasactivated and did yield satisfactory yellow layer cakes the activity wasshort lived and actually insufficient to be of value in pound cakes asshown in Example III. Since glyceryl monopalmitate failed to work evenon the instantaneous time basis it is obvious that this particularmonoglyceride is not useful as a liquid shortening additive.

EXAMPLE V Since the monoglycerides of the saturated fatty acids having achain length greater than 18 carbon atoms are considerably moreexpensive than the previously men tioned more readily available shorterchain saturated fatty acid monoglyceride, liquid shortenings wereprepared in accordance with the process'described in Example I, in whichseveral combinations of the two classes of mono- TABLE III The BatterAerating Properties and Cake Volume Performance of GlycerylMonobelzenate-Glyceryl Monostearate Mixtures Percent Percent SpecificCake G1 gravity of volume,

atter cc.

TABLE IV The Batter Aerating Properties and Cake Volume Performance ofGlyceryl Monobehenate-Glyceryl Mono palmitate Mixtures Percent PercentSpecific Cake GMB GMP gravity of volume,

batter cc.

TABLE V The Batter Aerating Properties and Cake Volume Performance ofGlyceryl Monoarachidate-Glyceryl Monostearate Mixtures Percent PercentSpecific Cake GMA GMS gravity of volume,

batter cc.

It is quite apparent from these results that the more effectivemonoglycerides can to some extent impart their superior cake batteraerating properties to the less effective homologs.

EXAMPLE VI The effective concentration range of the preferredmonoglycerides required to obtain optimum performance in pound cakes wasdetermined by preparing liquid shortenings as in Example I, containingconcentrations of commercial distilled glyceryl monobehenate varyingfrom 0.75 to 1.75% in soybean salad oil, and subjecting the resultingliquid shortening products to the aforementioned pound cake test. Theresults are included in the following table.

12 TABLE VI The Effect of Monoglyceride (Glyceryl Monobehenate)Concentration 0n the Pound Cake Baking Properties of Liquid ShorteningPercent Specific Cake mono gravity of volume, Appearance and texturebatter cc.

1. 75 582 920 Excellent. 1. 41 582 920 Do. 1.25 .605 880 Few undesirableair holes. 1.00 .648 800 Some undesirable air holes. 0.75 .670 730 Manyundesirable air holes.

These data demonstrate that the minimum effective concentration of thepreferred commercial saturated fatty acid monoglycerides in liquidshortening is close to 1.25% and that no additional benefits accrue fromconcentrations in excess of 1.75%.

EXAMPLE VII The following example illustrates how lecithin contributesto the broad use properties of our preferred liquid shortenings. In thiscase the lecithin content of a liquid shortening containing 0.75% ofdistilled glyceryl monobehenate and 0.66% of glyceryl monostearate wasvaried between 0.25% and 1.00%. The white layer cake results obtainedare included in the following table.

TABLE VII Effect of Lecithin Level in Liquid Shortening on Sugar WhiteLayer Cake Performance TABLE VII Lecithin Cake concentravolume, Generalappearance of cake tion cc.

0. 25 900 Poor uneven texture-sunken centers. 0.35 900 0. 0.50 1, 030Good cake in all respects. 0. 75 1, 050 Do. 1. 00 1, 040 Do.

It is obvious from these results that the inclusion of an adequate levelof lecithin in liquid shortening greatly improves its performance inwhite cakes.

EXAMPLE VIII A liquid shortening was prepared using the processdescribed in Example I, in which 0.75% commercial glyceryl monobehenateand 0.75% glyceryl monostearate were suspended in cottonseed oil towhich was added 1.0% of lecithin. Excellent pound cakes and white cakeswere made with this liquid shortening using the recipe and blendingmethods herein described.

EXAMPLE IX Liquid shortenings were made as described in Example I using1.75% glyceryl monobehenate in each case but one lot included 1.0%lecithin while the other did not. Equivalent pound cakes were obtainedwith these two liquid shortenings.

In summary, the fiuid shortening of the present invention comprises asalad oil formulated with about 1.5% of saturated fatty acidmonoglycerides, at least 50% of Which comprise monoglycerides ofsaturated fatty acids having a chain length greater than 18 carbonatoms.

This fluid shortening is most economically prepared by forming asolution of the preferred monoglycerides in a controlled portion of thesalad oil base mixing this relatively warm solution with the remainderof the salad oil at ambient temperature and then milling or homogenizingthe resulting crude slurry within a controlled period of time after thepreparation of the slurry was completed.

The liquid shortening of this invention should be treated to activatethe suspended saturated fatty acid monoglycerides more or lessimmediately prior to its incorporation into a cake batter. Activationcomprises heating the liquid shortening until the suspended solids meltand then cooling the mixture so as to reprecipitate the solid saturatedfatty acid monoglycerides in the active form. The cooling phase of thisactivation process may be conveniently carried out in practice bycombining the melted liquid shortening with cold tap water (included inthe recipe) prior to or simultaneously with addition to dry ingredientsof the batter.

Lecithin is not an essential additive in the general sense to bring outthe superior functional properties of the spec ified monoglycerides offatty acids having a chain length greater than 18 carbon atoms. Whilelecithin appears to exert some minor beneficial efiects in grain andtexture of pound cakes, yellow cakes and chocolate cakes, etc., it isprimarily because of its dramatic contribution to the liquid shorteningperformance in high sugar white cakes that we include lecithin as adesirable additive to the liquid shortening of this invention.

We claim:

1. The method of producing a cake batter including a liquid shorteningwhich comprises a normally liquid edible triglyceride oil as the majoringredient and from about 0.50% to about 1.75% by weight of normallysolid monoglycerides of a saturated fatty acid having a chain lengthgreater than 18 carbon atoms, comprising heating said liquid shorteningto about 140 F. to melt said normally solid monoglyceride and form asolution and thereafter cooling said solution to reprecipitate saidnormally solid monoglycerides in the active form and incorporating said14 liquid shortening containing said reprecipitated monoglyceride intothe cake batter within about minutes of reprecipitation.

2. Method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the solid fatty acidmonoglycerides are chosen from the group consisting of glycerylmonobehenate and glyceryl monoarachidate.

3. Method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the solid fatty acidmonoglycerides comprise at least by weight of a monoglyceride of a fattyacid having a chain length greater than 18 carbon atoms and not morethan 50% by weight of a monoglyceride of a fatty acid having a chainlength less than 20 carbon atoms.

4. Method in accordance with claim 1 in which the liquid shorteningcontains from about 0.5% to 1.25% by weight of commercial edible gradelecithin.

5. Method in accordance with claim 1 in which the liquid shorteningcontains about 1% by weight of commercial edible grade lecithin and inwhich the normally solid fatty acid monoglycerides comprise about 0.37%glyceryl monobehenate, about 0.41% glyceryl monoarachidate, about 0.48%glyceryl monostearate and about 0.23% glyceryl monopalmitate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,494,771 Markley Jan. 17, 1950 2,868,652 Brock Jan. 13, 1959 2,875,065Thompson Feb. 24, 1959 2,999,755 Handschumaker Sept. 12, 1961 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,069,270December 18, 1962 Edward Handschumaker et al It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 54, for "qaulity" read quality column 8, line 48,- for"exhiibted" read exhibited column 11, TABLE IV third column, line 2thereof for .632 read .635

Signed and sealed this 6th day of Aufgnslti 1963.

I (SEAL) Attestz' E ERNEST w SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting OfficerCommissioner of Patents

1. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING A CAKE BATTER INCLUDING A LIQUID SHORTENINGWHICH COMPRISES A NORMALLY LIQUID EDIBLE TRIGLYCERIDE OIL AS THE MAJORINGREDIENT AND FROM ABOUT 0.50% TO ABOUT 1.75% BY WEIGHT OF NORMALLYSOLID MONOGLYCERIDES OF A SATURATED FATTY ACID HAVING A CHAIN LENGTHGREATER THAN 18 CARBON ATOMS, COMPRISING HEATING SAID LIQUID SHORTENINGTO ABOUT 140*F. TO MELT SAID NORMALLY SOLID MONOGLYCERIDE AND FROM ASOLUTION AND THEREAFTER COOLING SAID SOLUTION TO REPRECIPITATE SAIDNORMALLY SOLID MONOGLYCERIDES IN THE ACTIVE FORM AND INCORPORATING SAIDLIQUID SHORTENING CONTAINING SAID REPRECIPITATED MONOGLYCERIDE INTO THECAKE BATTER WITHIN ABOUT 45 MINUTES OF REPRECIPATION.